Vattakanal..........home.......

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Thursday 10th May 2007 - Wednesday 6th June 2007

Wowee so what the fuck do I say about Vattakanal!!! Vattakanal was my home in India.....Vattakanal is a tiny village (50 people maximum) 3KM outside of a more popular tourist trap called Kodaikanal in the Western Ghats (the mountain range, Tamil Nadu, South India).
We took the local bus from Ooty to Combiatore and then took the bus to Palani where we had to spend a night. From Palani we took another local bus, which as per normal was seriously overloaded and we were unable to sit for the 3 hour journey up the mountains. Arriving in Kodaikanal hot, irritated and hungry we found a café and got some food in. I looked around the town asking the westerners I saw the best places to stay. Julian (from Canada) had also just arrived so decided to join us to go check out Vattakanal (which we had just been recommended). We fell in love with the first apartment we saw, owned by and above a lovely family it had a large living room/bedroom and an adequate bathroom and kitchen but my god did it have a view!!!
The view turned out to be more appreciated than I thought it would be as i immediately managed to put my back out. Unable to move from my bed for 3 days I was extremely grateful to have met the girls who rallied around me making sure I was ok and had everything I needed. It actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I don't think I've sat and just thought about things for years and over those 3 days there wasn't anything for me to do but think! Again in India I appreciate that things happen for a reason.
Around the 18th Michal decided she needed to move on so we spent the afternoon just sightseeing and enjoying a relaxing paddle around the lake before we said an emotional goodbye as she left to take part in a movie in Chennai (Madras).
Time here went by happily, just doing simple everyday things, washing, laundry, shopping etc are all so much more complicated than in the UK, we had a water shortage so firstly when the water was running you had to fill up bucket after bucket, bottle after bottle of water, then you had to heat the water on the gas stove then there's shopping, i both love and hate shopping in India for the same reasons; you always have to go to a number of places to get your list (fruit market/veg market/tobacconist/dairy shop/chocolate shop/off license/supermarket/butcher/bakery etc) there isn't such a thing as a real Supermarket which takes AGES, then you have to haggle everywhere or check each item for a M.R.P (Maximum Retail Price) and argue with them, then you have to get your shopping the 3KM back without crushing anything (they dont use plastic bags and just throw everything into your shopping bags). Cooking is another thing, you hava a camping stove with just 2 gas rings and no modern appliances like toasters and kettles so you have to learn to use as few pans to cook as possible and then you have to heat up water to wash up.
I could happily of stayed here until my Visa ran out until I got a phone call from my parents and they arranged a holiday to India for the 18th August.....10 days after my visa runs out! I now need to go the 1700 odd miles back up the country and into Nepal to get a new Visa to return to Rajasthan and see my parents! I suddenly realise that I have just 2 months until my Visa runs out and i begin to panic about all the places between here and Nepal I still want to visit before then!
The views here all around are fantastic, we wouyld often walk and find a good spot and just sit there watching the skys change into the most glorious colours, and the clouds pass by just in front or below us and watching the storms off into the distance....just watching nature at it's best and appreciating every second of it! I'll try not to bore you with too many pictures.......
We did think about leaving a couple of times but fate conspired against us as the Sai Baba and all his followers descended on Kodaikanal for 10 days (really strange bunch of people, I stayed out of Kodai whilst he was here unles i HAD to go in) and you were unable to find transport out for at least the 10 days, then I got really ill with a fever, nausea, diarrhea, going in and out of consciousness, so we stayed another couple of days. When we did go to collect the tickets I was so upset at the thought that Tsipi was now leaving to go to Kolkatta (Calcutta) whilst Gem and I were continuing to Fort Cochin in Kerala. We arrived at the ticket office and found out that Tsipi's ticket wasn't available however there was another ticket to Fort Cochin! This was obviously fate telling her to join us ;-) The 16 hour journey to Fort Cochin via Madurai whilst still ill and having not eaten for 40 hours was by far the worst I have been on in India but as we crossed into Kerala it looked like it would be worth it........

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Comments

[Derick]

Hey ya
Hello... i just stumbled upon your travel blog... i love it... its a really different perspective... just wanted to know if you got another blog or so, coz this one just die's mid way through your adventure.... Cheers Derick